AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) shares gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $86.48, but opened at $82.23. AST SpaceMobile shares last traded at $85.7810, with a volume of 1,479,191 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Zacks Research cut AST SpaceMobile from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Scotiabank upgraded AST SpaceMobile from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.60 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, November 24th. UBS Group downgraded AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $62.00 to $43.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Barclays lowered shares of AST SpaceMobile from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $60.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.66.

AST SpaceMobile Trading Down 1.9%

The company has a current ratio of 9.56, a quick ratio of 9.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market cap of $31.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -68.10 and a beta of 2.76. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $69.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.89.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The company reported ($0.45) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by ($0.27). The company had revenue of $14.74 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.04 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 27.76% and a negative net margin of 1,639.59%.The firm’s revenue was up 1236.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned ($1.10) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.34, for a total transaction of $773,400.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 382,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,572,882.50. This trade represents a 2.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.52, for a total transaction of $2,940,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 4,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $349,220. The trade was a 89.39% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders bought 2,140 shares of company stock worth $137,236 and sold 2,354,621 shares worth $164,348,075. Company insiders own 30.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. ORG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 5.2% during the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 3,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $155,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp boosted its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 30.0% during the 3rd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 781 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 22.9% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 21.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 3.9% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $323,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About AST SpaceMobile

AST SpaceMobile is a U.S.-based aerospace company developing a space-based cellular broadband network designed to connect standard mobile phones and other devices directly to satellites. The company’s core proposition is “space-to-cell” service: operating a constellation of low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellites equipped with large, high-power phased-array antennas to provide wide-area mobile broadband without requiring users to buy specialized terminals or handset modifications.

AST SpaceMobile designs, builds and operates satellite payloads and supporting ground infrastructure.